Adventure in the NV Outback - Day 2

We woke up at the Stinkin Lincoln, then got ready for our next adventure and walked up the street for breakfast at the Toiyabe café.  After breakfast I had Andy take my picture with the cardboard cut out John Wayne.  You know you would do the same thing if you had the opportunity.  The people sitting at the table next to us thought it was cute that I was taking my picture with the cardboard cut-out so they encouraged me to roll my pants up just like John Wayne, they were very helpful and friendly folks.
 

After breakfast we walked back to the motel and got the car.  Then we were off to Berlin Ichthyosaur Park.  The park is about 60 – 70 miles outside of Austin and a good 50 of those miles were on a nice flat dirt road.  The dirt road took us through a beautiful valley, the surrounding mountains were all snowcapped and the sun was out so it was a beautiful day.  Even though the sun was out it was still a bit chilly.  We drove down the dirt road for what seemed like forever; just when we thought we might be lost we came upon the town Ione.  We asked the first people we saw, which may have been the only people in that town, and they told us we were going the right direction.  We finally reached Berlin with 20 minutes to spare before our tour of the Diana Mine.  So we quickly checked the place out and then met our tour group.  For the tour we were given a hard hat and a flash light.  The guide also gave us an escape route in the mine in case of a cave in, I'm so glad we didn’t have to use that exit strategy.  The mine was exactly like the mines you see in movies.  Wood beams and lots of dirt.  There was also a lot of visible quartz and we could see where the miners had followed the gold vein when they mined this gold mine.

Once we were done with the Diana Mine tour we continued a few miles up the dirt road to the Ichthyosaur part of the park.  I was really looking forward to this part of the trip because I wanted to buy a shirt just like my friend Andy’s with a big Ichthyosaur on it that says “I Dig Ichthyosaur” because it is a unique T-shirt.  After we arrived at the visitor center we checked in and paid our $3 each for the tour.  Our tour guide was so excited and he absolutely loved his job, he also loved how quick witted we were and got a big kick out of us and of course Andy’s shirt.  The guide was hilarious in a funny nerdy kind of way.  Every time he asked if we had questions and no one asked a question he would say “oh good that means I’m doing my job” and then he would laugh at his joke.  It was really funny.  So we took the quick tour and the guide told us about the fossils that were first discovered in the 1920s.  Then he walked us around the visitor center and showed us the fossils in the center dig area.  Some of it was really hard to figure out and see but other parts of it I could easily tell what fossils I was looking at.  It was really interesting.  After a quick Kodak moment out in front of the Icky wall we were back on the road again for the next part of our adventure.  The only part of our mission we didn't accomplish was we weren't able to buy Icky t-shirts.  Because of budget cuts the state park is no longer selling souvenirs to tourists. 

And and the coolest t-shirt ever!

Then we were back on the dirt road.  We were driving back towards Austin when all of the sudden the alarm sounded and the warning lights on the dash panel went off indicating there was a problem with the tire pressure.  We were right in front of one of the only ranches we had seen so I passed the ranch and then pulled over to check it out.  As soon as I opened my door I heard that dreaded sound of air hissing and escaping from my tire.  I couldn’t believe it.  My first thought was we can’t let this ruin our adventure.  My second thought was glad I asked Dad where his spare tire was on the Ford Explorer before I borrowed the car.  Lucky for me Bridget and Andy had changed a tire the week before on their car so they were pros at changing tires.  You know practice makes perfect.  They were so impressive, Team Walden rocks!  I didn’t time it but I swear they changed that tire within a half hour. 

Just as they finished changing the tire the rancher and his friend pulled up, and their kids and a few dogs.  They were all very nice.  They helped us pump up our spare tire and check the pressure.  While they were pumping up the tire I learned that the youngest puppy, a darling little black and white border collie, they had with them was named Arthur and he was a 9 month old herding dog,  That day he was learning how to herd cattle.  This pup was exhausted.  First he fell asleep under the car.  We had a tough time waking the poor little guy when it was time to move the car to pump up the tire.  Then he fell asleep next to the car again.  When we left we had to make sure we didn’t hit poor Arthur because he was not moving one bit, he really needed some sleep. 

They sent us on our way and we made it back to Austin.  The rancher told me to find a guy in Austin to fix the tire but the guy wasn’t around since it was Memorial Day weekend.  So we continued on to Eureka and then Ely.

They are such a cute couple!  They even share drinks!

By the time we got to Ely all the tire shops were closed and it was snowing.  So we found a motel and then went to dinner at All American Pizza.  While we waited for our pizza Bridget and I brought the map out and figured out where we got our flat tire that day and where we were going the next day.  While we were looking at the map the owner of the pizza joint came out and starting chatting with us about our travel plans.  I told him about our flat tire and how I was a little worried about taking the lonely back roads without a spare tire, he started thinking about it while he got our pizza together.    We had a really good pesto pizza, it was exactly what we needed after a long day of dirt roads, flat tires and then a blizzard.  After we ate our pizza the owner came back out and brought us each a complimentary piece of chocolate cheese cake, it was delicious.  He asked me if he could see the tire.  Being a complete nerd I took him outside to the car and showed him the spare Bridget and Andy put on earlier in the day, he laughed and then told me he meant he wanted to see the tire with the hole in it to see if he could fix it for me.  So we brought the tire out.  The slit was so big that the key fit through the hole in the tire.  He said he didn’t think it could be fixed but then he thought he might have a spare that would work for me.  So he and his friend ran to his house and got us a spare tire. 

I was blown away by this man’s kindness.  He gave me a spare tire out of the goodness of his heart and sent us on our way to our next adventure.  I don’t know many places where people are this nice and helpful.  I really appreciated his kindness. 

Thanks to the guy at All American Pizza we were back on the road again.